According to the poll, opposition to increased offshore drilling has grown 10 points since May and is now twice as high as it was in 2008. Fifty-eight percent of those questioned support a six-month moratorium on new drilling in the Gulf and other offshore sites; 68 percent favor increased regulation of the oil industry in this country.

"There is a gender and generation gap on offshore oil drilling - women and younger Americans are less likely to support drilling offshore and more likely to support a moratorium," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

Measures that directly target BP are also popular - 63 percent favor lifting the liability cap on BP and 53 percent would support criminal charges against some BP employees or executives.

The public also likes the ideas on alternative energy sources that President Obama outlined in his prime-time speech Tuesday night. Seven in ten favor Obama's proposals to reduce the amount of oil and other fossil fuels that are produced or used in the U.S., and large majorities think those proposals will increase jobs in the U.S. and make life better for the next generation of Americans.

"More than three-quarters of Democrats and Independents support Obama's ideas on this topic. Republicans are split, 46 percent to 46 percent, on them," says Holland. "But most Republicans do say that Obama's proposals would increase jobs and help the next generation."

The survey was the first national poll conducted entirely after the president's address on the oil spill to the American people. Obama's speech directly followed his fourth trip to the Gulf Coast since the environmental disaster began on April 20.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted Wednesday, June 16, with 534 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Don't drill until BP proves it knows the actual cause of the oil well rupture.

Don't drill until BP proves it has contingency equipment IN PLACE to address another rupture.

June 18, 2010 02:59 pm at 2:59 pm |

Larry

Now I understand CNN's polls.

".....roughly half say it's not getting any worse"

IT'S STILL LEAKING. IT'S GETTING WORSE EVERY DAY.

June 18, 2010 03:00 pm at 3:00 pm |

John D.

BP in the events of the past five years has proved they are the worst offenders in the oil and gas industry. In 2005 the were felony negligent in the the texas oil refinery explosion the Baker commission found Bp had cut corners to place profit over safety . Bp vowed that it would make changes and in 2006 created the worst Oil Spill on land in America with Alaskan North Slope incident.

Bp has been cited for over 750 violations by osha since 2007 next offended in the industry 8 over the same period. BP record for safety concerns over profit speak for themselves deemed the most unsafe operations in the oil industry. over five years.

BP has caused the largest disaster due to oil drilling ever in the north American continent in doing so has been cover up the facts since day one. First citing 1,000 bbl. of oil knowing the gusher was producing at least 35,000 to as much as 80,000 a day . The Key decisions on the rig have been made with costs concerns Haliburton stressed in a report to use 21 sleeves and tyvec approach Bp used six sleeves and a straight pipe saving 12 million and approximately 32 hours An acoustic test to see if the cement refractoring Job was skipped this would have insured the cement was permament and would hold the cement did not and they sent the company away that was to perform said test saved 120,000 and eight hours . When it all went to the bottom they have delayed the response of the federal by directly releasing false information to the size and scope of leak. they did not allow the hd footage to be released to the government knowing our experts could directly estimate the size and scope of said leak.

BP is still engaged heavily in the bury this case in finding favorable judges to over see their case they are not cooperating with Congressional Investigation . They Still think they own the government. They have run maverick long enough and it is time to pull there plug stop issuing oil contracts suspend leases do not give them lucrative oil for defense contracts bring these criminals to Justice.

This corperation is not a friend to the gulf coast they are not a partner in the oil industry they are criminals and enemies of the state and should be held to the fullest extent of the Law of Our Land....

June 18, 2010 03:03 pm at 3:03 pm |

david

do you think obama osama will vacation ,,in the gulf...what a pice of shi.....t this boy couln't lead a monkey to a tree

June 18, 2010 03:06 pm at 3:06 pm |

keeth in California

This is not news. This is a speculative poll. The long-term realities won't be known for a long, long time. To say it will never recover is to be uninformed and pessimistic, and CNN's brand of soft journalism / infotainment feeds and breeds ignorance and pessimism. Stop wasting your time on bogus polls and start asking hard questions of BP, our government, and the American people.

June 18, 2010 03:11 pm at 3:11 pm |

AJ

I believe in more off shore drilling. Throw up rigs off the coasts of every single republican state, close enough for those people to see the rigs every day, close enough for them to smell the rigs every day, close enough for the residue to wash up on their beaches every day, close enough for them to understand the consequences of their continued stupidity. Start making the morons of Florida, Alaska, Alabama, Texas and all other Republican states deal with and look at the results of their "money above everything" mentality.

June 18, 2010 03:12 pm at 3:12 pm |

obama victim

never recover......thanks Barry

June 18, 2010 03:14 pm at 3:14 pm |

Naqib

Kind of like the rest of America after this administration!

June 18, 2010 03:22 pm at 3:22 pm |

Cal

I have always said we Americans are killing ourselves! What has
been allowed to happen in the Gulf is absolutely outrageous and we
have done it to ourselves. We are using our home, Earth, as a constant garbage dump! Polluting our land, waters, wildlife, and the
air we breathe, with chemicals that are not only damaging all of the
above, but will eventually kill all of human kind! I am outraged and
ashamed! But, we only have ourselves to blame! God help us all.

June 18, 2010 03:24 pm at 3:24 pm |

Darth Vadik, CA

Actually this is a reflection of the human mentality, short term views.

Of course the gulf will recover (if further drilling is stopped), it just won't be in our lifetime. People really have to start thinking about the future, and I do mean past tomorrow.

June 18, 2010 03:26 pm at 3:26 pm |

Alex

Of course the Gulf will recover! It just depends on the time scale – on the geologic time scale, this will be just a little splat on the ocean. The oil slicked beaches will stay in the stratigraphic record until it erodes away, and future geologists will wonder what kind of idiots could have allowed such a disaster to happen.

June 18, 2010 03:27 pm at 3:27 pm |

Rick McDaniel

There are a lot of people who really know how sensitive this area really is, to any upset of the balance of nature.

The other half, will find out, soon enough.

June 18, 2010 03:27 pm at 3:27 pm |

I agree, it is devastating

BP: you screwed the pooch on this one

June 18, 2010 03:28 pm at 3:28 pm |

LIP

I am sure that some Pliosaur said to another Plioasaur something like "we will never recover from that asteroid impact". Well, in fact they didn't, but the earth recovered and time moved on and here we are fouling it up, and the earth will recover...it's got another 7 billon years to do it in.

June 18, 2010 03:28 pm at 3:28 pm |

jeff jackson, alabama

I love the gulf coast. I spend most of my off
days on the Florida gulf coast. But why is it
that hardly anybody understands that B.P.
had almost nothing to do with the operation
of this rig that's leaking. People in America
are law suit happy. Fixing the damn leak is
more important to those of us who enjoy the
gulf than drawn out legal suits. Let's put all
that energy into fixing the problem. Those of
us who live down here will still be here when
all you uneducated experts north of here and
west of here turn your attentions to some other
part of the world.
If you don't have a solution just shut the hell up !!!!!

June 18, 2010 03:35 pm at 3:35 pm |

Four and The Door

So the oil is still flowing and Obama is still relying on BP, the same buffoons that caused this, to fix it. Am I wrong for not being as comfortable with this as Obama apparently is? At what point does he stop and say hey, maybe these guys don't know what they are doing?

June 18, 2010 03:35 pm at 3:35 pm |

Claudia, Houston, Tx

The Gulf will never recover if it's left up to Republicans, remember they support big oil and not the Gulf. Shame on them.

June 18, 2010 03:38 pm at 3:38 pm |

JOHN U

What's the "drill, baby, drill" queen gotta say about that?

June 18, 2010 03:42 pm at 3:42 pm |

Dean

We have enough regulations already. What we need is a government competent enough to oversee the regulations.
A 6 month moraratorium on drilling will kill us. All the experienced oil people will leave the gulf and when you decide that you really do need the oil after all, the new drilling will be done by inexperienced people and this could lead to more numerous disasters.
We have oil in shallow water. What Obama fails to mention is that a 1995 law called the Outer Continental Shelf Deepwater Royalty Relief Act gave oil companies incentives to drill deep, drill often, and drill with impunity. The law, according to the pair, “exempted oil wells drilled deep in the Gulf from the normal royalty payments to the government,” spurring companies to drill more and more barrels offshore as time went by. This act gave oil companies about 18% more profits than drilling in shallow water.
And for all of you "tree huggers", I would love to have alternate energy to heat my house and propel my car, just tell me where I can get it. Until then I do not want 5 or 6 dollar gas.

June 18, 2010 03:43 pm at 3:43 pm |

gus from new orleans

re: Jeff Jackson from Alabama. RIGHT ON MAN .

June 18, 2010 03:46 pm at 3:46 pm |

Chessnutz of Liverpool NY

Our mother earth has eternity to recover long after humanity is extinct.

June 18, 2010 03:47 pm at 3:47 pm |

Ben in Texas

A lot of folks can remember when the Cuyahoga River caught on fire. I wonder how long before the Gulf of Mexico becomes a giant floating fireball?

June 18, 2010 03:48 pm at 3:48 pm |

Darko

More regulation???!?! Good god! just like the Financial Industries, we don't need MORE regulation! We just need the regulators to actually do their jobs. I understand parties and porn are fun, but the job should come first.